Matteo Jorgenson, left, finished second behind Carlos Rodríguez, right, on Stage 8 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, and second behind Primož Roglič overall
Matteo Jorgensen very nearly pulled off a second dramatic last-stage coup of the season at the Critérium du Dauphiné, but though the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider was narrowly denied the title by Primož Roglič, the American was the big mover in the Road Code Ranking.
His consistency at the Dauphiné was underlined by only finishing outside of the top-nine in the opening stage’s sprint, and the 24-year-old collected 1,295 points during the week-long race. It was a tally that moved him from 21st to 5th overall, having already gained just over half that total in winning March’s Paris-Nice and Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Jorgensen has been his team’s best-performing rider all season, and his display at the Dauphiné also shot him from 19th to fourth in the Stage Race ranking, while he has advanced even further in the Climb category, leapfrogging from 52nd to 9th.
Roglič saved the yellow jersey at the Dauphiné by a margin of only eight seconds, just about doing enough despite Jorgensen’s ferocious attack with eventual stage winner Carlos Rodríguez, of INEOS Grenadiers.
Because Roglič had a disappointing Paris-Nice and was forced to withdraw from Itzulia Basque Country on Stage 4, the BORA - hansgrohe man wasn’t populating the upper echelons of the Road Code Ranking and its various sub-categories prior to the Dauphiné.
But in winning the 21st stage race of his career – and taking two stage victories in the process – Roglič gained 1,512 points (750 points for winning the GC) and moved up to 13th in the Road Code Ranking. That tally is representative of how many points can be gained in a stage race, and explains why the ranking has had a big shuffle near the top in the past week.
Roglič’s team-mate Aleksandr Vlasov jumped from eight to third, and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) from 10th to fourth – the pair both netting in excess of 500 points during the Dauphiné. Giro d’Italia conqueror Tadej Pogačar remains way out in front on almost 5,500 points, while Juan Ayuso, also of UAE Team Emirates, just managed to hold on to his second place despite withdrawing from the Dauphiné as a result of injuries sustained on Stage 5.
One sub-category that Ayuso has lost ground in, though, is Stage Races, the Spaniard dropping from first to third, with Evenepoel superseding him as the leader, and Vlasov now holding second place. Roglič made the biggest gains in the category, propelling himself from a lowly spot of 59th to fifth courtesy of his return to winning ways. A nod, too, to Rodríguez, whose Stage 8 victory and fourth place on GC not only seemingly assures him of Tour de France team leadership but progresses him to sixth in the Stage Race ranking.
Roglič, left, won Stage 7 of the Dauphiné ahead of Jorgenson, right
Although the Dauphiné was a hilly affair, the race didn’t produce too many changes in the Climb ranking, with an entire mountain range continuing to separate Pogačar and the rest. One notable movement, though, was Vlasov overtaking his team-mate Dani Martínez into third.
It wasn’t only Alpine ascents and slippery descents during the week: there was also a stage each for the sprinters and the time-trialists. Mads Pedersen prevailed in the former, moving from fourth to third in the Sprint ranking, while world champion Evenpoel took the Stage 4 win against the clock to jump six places to third in the Individual Time Trial ranking.
The Belgian is tied on 450 points with Ayuso in joint-second, the pair currently sitting 100 points adrift of INEOS Grenadiers’ Filippo Ganna. Knocking on the door of the top 10 is Ganna’s team-mate Josh Tarling. The young Welshman was second to Evenepoel in the Dauphiné and the trio will renew their battle at July’s Olympic Games.
But, for now, the rider causing the biggest splash is Jorgensen, Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s American star.